Crane claw arcade games 1 such as that depicted in FIG. 1 are popular amusement devices often located in arcades, bingo halls, convenience stores, toll road rest stops, shopping malls, and many other public places. In these types of games, prizes 10 are stored within a gaming area 12 of an enclosed housing 14 and are viewable by a player through one or more windows of the housing 14, for example. Upon the insertion of a coin or token, the player may control a mechanical claw 18 or other pick-up device via a joystick 20, one or more buttons, or a toggle switch, for example. Typically, the mechanical claw 18 is disposed above the prizes 10 and the player may change the three-dimensional position of the claw 18. At the player's discretion, and typically within a pre-set time limit, the claw 18 may be lowered toward the prizes with the intention of grasping one or more of the prizes 10. In FIG. 1, the claw 18 includes three fingers 22, which occupy an open state prior to the claw 18 being lowered, and once the claw 18 reaches the level of the prizes, the fingers 22 close in an attempt to grasp a prize 10. Subsequent to closing, the claw 18 is raised and moved above a dispensing chute, the outlet 21 of which is seen in FIG. 1, for example. The fingers 22 of the claw 18 are then opened by the player to allow any prize 10 that may be grasped thereby to drop into the dispensing chute and out to the player. If no prize 10 was grasped by the claw 18, the player does not receive a prize and game play ends.
Typical prizes for crane claw arcade games are configured to sonic extent to facilitate grasping by the fingers of the claw. For example, some typical prizes include stuffed items such as animals, dolls, sports equipment, etc., that may be squeezed by the fingers of the claw. Other prizes may include plastic or metal items with loops of material extending therefrom such that one or more of the fingers of the claw may penetrate the loop(s) to grasp the item. Finally, some other prizes include t-shirts, knit hats, or other items constructed from textiles that may be folded, rolled, or otherwise arranged in a bundle of a predetermined size for facilitating grasping by the claw.